Hundreds of children dying in virulent new mpox wave
Children are most at risk of dying from a more deadly outbreak of mpox currently spreading across Central and West Africa, World Vision says.
The outbreak is currently focused in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but fears are growing for other areas including Sudan and South Sudan due to the ongoing civil war in that area causing famine and forcing people from their homes.
Of the 7851 reported mpox cases in Congo, 39 per cent are children under five, including 240 deaths so far (62 per cent of the total).
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A new strain of mpox is ravaging Africa. NIAID
Children under 15 make up more than 70 per cent of the mpox cases and 85 per cent of deaths in the same country.
"This is a new, much deadlier variant of mpox than what we saw a few years ago and it is children in countries such as the DRC and other low income countries that will bear the brunt of sickness and even death," World Vision Australia CEO Daniel Wordsworth said.
"There's much higher risk for those living in refugee camps or other crowded areas where there is a lack of clean water, safe food and medical services."
Wordsworth called for international governments to join the effort to provide vaccinations and health advice to stop the spread.
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Children are making up many mpox casualties in Congo. AP
"There is already growing concern for countries such as Sudan and South Sudan, already struggling with refugees and spreading disease due to civil war – we need to try and stop mpox in its tracks," he said.
Earlier this week, the World Health Organisation declared the new mpox spread a global health emergency.
WHO said there have been more than 14,000 cases and 524 deaths in Africa this year, which already exceed last year's figures.
Congolese authorities have asked for four million vaccine doses mostly for young children, but no doses have yet been received, said Cris Kacita Osako, coordinator of Congo's Monkeypox Response Committee.
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Dr Boghuma Titanji, an infectious diseases expert at Emory University, said the last WHO emergency declaration for mpox "did very little to move the needle" on getting things like diagnostic tests, medicines and vaccines to Africa.
Titanji said it was unclear why children were so disproportionately hit by mpox in Congo.
She said it might be because kids are more susceptible to the virus or that social factors, like overcrowding and exposure to parents who caught the disease, might explain it.
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